Defense spending bill would boost
Tennessee programs
By Kathy Helms-Hughes
STAR STAFF
khughes@starhq.com
High-tech initiatives under development by two
companies in Oak Ridge could get a boost if the 2003 Defense
Appropriations Bill makes its way through Congress.
Third District Congressman Zach Wamp, who has
served on the House Appropriations Committee since 1997, said
yesterday the committee met late Monday night to vote on the
bill which includes $5 million for SensorNet, an Oak Ridge
National Laboratory program.
Under the program, real-time detection and assessment
systems produced by SensorNet would be placed on existing
cellular towers and would be able to detect a chemical agent
within 45 seconds and a biological threat within five minutes,
then quickly alert authorities.
Wamp said the war on terrorism not only means
equipping U.S. troops abroad. "Unfortunately, we now must
be very vigilant in protecting our homeland, and many of these
high-tech detection systems that are developed in East Tennessee
have an important role to play," he said.
The Defense bill also includes $28.9 million
for research and development of robotics systems made by REMOTEC
of Oak Ridge as part of the Joint Robotics Program.
By further developing robotic systems that can
perform such tasks as disabling a bomb through remote control,
the lives of many law enforcement officers in the homeland
or soldiers in the field can be saved, according to Wamp.
The robots currently are being used in portions of the United
States, Israel and the United Kingdom.
Wamp called the robotics technology "fascinating."
"Most folks had no idea that this life-saving technology was
being produced right here in East Tennessee," he said.
The $354.7 billion Defense bill provides $33.8
billion more than the 2002 bill for defense-related programs
and resources to fight the war on terrorism.
The Defense spending bill also earmarks funds
for other Tennessee projects, including a $1 million increase
for the Tennessee National Guard's Appalachian High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Area fund, aimed at helping the Guard eradicate
marijuana growing and usage in the state.
The full House is expected to vote on the spending
bill later this week.
